Most Viewed Things to Do in Haarlem

Vanity

Haarlem is over seven centuries old and is a city with a history rich in Dutch mercantile and trade culture. During the golden age of Europe, wealthy Dutch merchants funded massive construction projects within the major cities and towns of the Netherlands, and the coastal port city of Haarlem is no exception. Throughout the city one can find many symbols and icons created as monuments to those that could afford them. Here on the façade of a large building, that has be subdivided in more recent days, can be seen busts depicting the original owner and his wife who are each adorned with what appear to be a breastplates made from local and exotic fruits. Of course I may be entirely wrong and these could be tributes to some ancient pagan fertile-harvest ritual, or they could be the local version of the King and Queen of the Haarlem high school prom.

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Paviljoen Welgelegen

This beautiful place was bought in 1769 by Henry Hope, an English banker. In those days it was a country estate, far away from the centre of Haarlem. Hope hasn't actually lived here, he used it as a museum for his collection of art.In 1808 it was sold to Lodewijk Napoleon, brother of the famous French emperor. After having a lot of owners it finally became property of the government. Today it is used by the Provincial Executive of the province Noord-Holland.Throughout the years, before the building became an 'office' for the Provincie, there were many museums housed inside the building. Nowadays it is closed for the public, but the courtyard behind the Paviljoen can still be viewed. There are a lot of sculptures there. If you want to see the inside of the building you can contact Anneke Olden to make an appointment!

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Fusillade monument

Only two months before the second World War ended in the Netherlands, at March 7th 1945, 15 men, age 19-53, were executed by a firing squad of Nazi's on the Dreef in Haarlem. This monument is there to remember this awful event.

If you can read Dutch please follow the link for more info.

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De Schouwburg

De schouwburg is the theater of Haarlem. Almsot everynight there is a show. The program ranges from cabaret to opera and from concerts to musicals. If you want to know what's on tonight visit the website.

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TulpomaniaIt is not...

It is not completely clear where the name 'tulip' comes from. The name is probably derived from the Persian word for turban: 'taliban'. In Latin this word was bastardized to Tulipa, which is even now the official name of this flower. Anyone who looks closely will see that the tulip indeed somewhat resembles a turban.

Contrary to what most foreigners think, the tulip did not originate in Holland, but in the mountain areas of the Caucasus and Persia. In the past these areas used to belong to the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. Because of that people in Holland often think that the tulip originated in Turkey. Tulips were already being cultivated in the year 1000, but the first specimens did not arrive in Europe until the end of the 16th century.

Tulip maniaThe Austrian botanist Carolus Clusius brought the first tulips to Holland in 1593. He arrived in Leiden that year to become head of the botanical garden, the Hortus Botanicus. The bulbs were so expensive at that time, that only rich people could afford to buy them. But the tulip was so much in demand that people speculated with them on a large scale. In fact, thousands of guilders were paid for bulbs of unusual tulips. In the 17th century that was enough money to buy a small castle. Hence the name 'tulip mania'. In 1637 the market collapsed when it turned out that many more tulip bulbs were sold than were being grown.

Holland and tulipsSince the17th century, it has been impossible to imagine the low lands without tulips and other bulb flowers. Nowadays, Holland is the largest producer of tulips and other bulb flowers. Flower bulbs are cultivated in an area of about 20,000 hectares. Of these, half are tulips. On the other half of the area lilies, gladiolas, narcissus, hyacinths and other bulb flowers are cultivated. Holland exports more than 2 billion tulip bulbs throughout the world annually. Most of them go to the United States followed closely by Japan and Germany. Of the 1 billion bulbs that remain in Holland, the majority are used for growing cut tulips.

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Haarlem supermarket V & D; La Place 6th fl.

Even if you don't need anything to buy, do visit the supermarket of Vroom and Dreesman. It is housed in a magnificient Art Deco building that this fact alone is worth visiting.Be sportive and take the stairs up to the highest store, or be smart and save your energy for later hikes and take the elevator to the highest level.If you are in the hall, you will have a nice view on these glas stained windows.Once at the top you can enjoy a nice view over the city. We were unfortunate that there were just works going on. Instead then we went for lunch at that same floor.I can recomend it!

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Budget Travel

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Don't miss out to check the train station!

If you are in Haarlem, even if you came by car and parked somewhere, do take the effort to have a look at the trainstation.

The building might not look that impressive from the outside, but when you go inside, you will be left with a whole other impression.This pictures shows the tiles of the first class waiting room.In total there were 3 different types of waiting rooms.

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Budget Travel

Architecture

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De Koepel

De Koepel is the prison of Haarlem. The Koepel a quite impressive state of architecture, because it is very big. Unfortunatley you cannot go in a have a look. That 'pleasure' is only for the people imprisoned ;-)

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The station

Since you're probably going to arrive by train anyway, take a good look at the station. It's one of the nicest in the country, with its many Jugendstil details. Shame that the square it stands on is one of the ugliest in the entire country.

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Historical Travel

Architecture

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Haarlem Red Light District

Not even close to the size of A'Dam, but still sort of quaint, also right next to the main Church---right after I took this picture down the alley towards an open window, the Father came walking out of a doorway to my left in his cassock holding his Bible..... The same rules abide here---do not openly take photos of the ladies---they don't like it one bit.

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Romantic Travel and Honeymoons

School Holidays

Photography

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Haarlem Railway Station

Give yourself a couple of minutes and have a look at the train station building. It is full of art nouveau decoration with thousands of coloured tiles and memories of railway history. Though they are used for other purposes right now (bar and salsa club), the old waiting rooms for the different classes are still preserved. The current building is from 1906, but contains some commemorative plaques relating to the old railway station. The former station building was part of the Amsterdam-Haarlem line, the first railway line in the Netherlands which opened in 1839.The train line from Den Haag to Amsterdam via Haarlem is still called the oude lijn (old line) while most trains between Den Haag and Amsterdam now use the shorter way via Leiden and Schiphol Airport.

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Architecture

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Salsa at Haarlem Railway Station

The complete year, each 2e and 4e Saturday of the month on salsa station Haarlem, Salsa classes for beginners from 20.00 till 20.30. Workshop Salsa for advanced 20.30 till 21.00. Party time from 9 PM untill 01 AM. These are famous and legendary Salsa parties in the Netherlands.They are in a monumental waiting chamber 2e class from 1906 in Art Nouveau style, on platform 3a.

City Hall

The Haarlem City Hall was built from 1370 at the location of the former castle of the Counts of Holland, that was lost in a fire.In 1456 a first tower was added to the City Hall; that tower lasted for some 300+ years.Between 1622 and 1630 a new section designed by Lieven de Key., was added to the City Hall.In 1913 a new tower was built.

DE SANTHAES

Before 1583 there obviously was a mill in Santpoort that probably during the siege of Haarlem was destroyed by the Spaniards around 1576.

We know this from old documents and manuscriptsfrom 5 July 1583.

Because of the fact that the city wished to present a miller with a new job they built this new one. On 1st Januari the miller could start his one-man-business here and nowadays you can buy corn, flour and other bakery products here.

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